Rapunzel
Rapunzel is the female protagonist of Tangled. She is voiced by Mandy Moore. Biography Rapunzel is not a typical Disney Princess; she carries her signature blonde hair, which is 70 feet long, which has a magical ability that can both heal and reverse aging when she sings a special song. Kidnapped by Mother Gothel when Rapunzel was still an infant, Rapunzel had been raised and locked away in a tower up until her 18th birthday. However, she does view Mother Gothel as her maternal mother despite being kidnapped. Rapunzel spends her time painting, cooking, candle-making, reading, brushing her hair, playing with Pascal, observing the outside world from within the tower, singing, and interacting with Mother Gothel. Being immersely fascinated by the floating lanterns that took place on her birthday every year, Rapunzel begins to develop a sense of curiosity and seeks to fulfill the dream of seeing those "lights in the sky" one day. However, she does not overcome Mother Gothel's strict guardianship and thus has been staying in the tower, longing for the day when her life "begins". Personality Rapunzel is a spirited, smart, kind and playful girl in her teens, though a bit naive. However, she is not afraid to stand up for herself or others when the situation calls for the bravery. Having spent all of her life isolated in a tower with little else to do, she is proficiently educated in literature, and talented in almost all areas such as music and baking and even more advanced subjects like astronomy as illustrated by her completely charted astronomical patterns; her greatest passion is art as indicated by the pervasive amount of painting on the walls inside the tower. While she longs to see the world beyond her window, she is very obedient to Mother Gothel. Despite having ambivalent feelings after leaving her tower in excitement to finally see the world, she confronts and rebels against Mother Gothel's wish of her returning to the tower after a short journey with Flynn Rider. She is quite daring; leaping from tall cliffs and swinging great lengths with her hair. She is completely immune to Flynn's so-called charms and has little tolerance for his antics, which usually results in her utilizing the pan against Flynn. She is also very charismatic; able to influence a group of pub thugs to share their dreams and convince Maximus, the palace steed of the Captain, to postpone his pursuit of Flynn until she fulfills her dream on her birthday (which is heavily emphasized). Rapunzel is also known, particularly by Pascal, to be quite trustworthy and never ever breaks the promises she makes. She is very determined to accomplish her dream of seeing the floating lights, such as strong-arming Flynn to go along with her plan and passing any other obstacle along the way. Although initially feared that the dream of seeing those lights may not meet her expectation and that there would be no other means to pursue in life after that dream has been fulfilled, Rapunzel is able to overcome those fears by having Flynn's support and belief that a new dream will emerge in place of the fulfilled dream. Powers and Abilities Supposedly channeling the energy from the sun, Rapunzel's hair could reverse damages done to humans including a complete regeneration of damaged tissues and organs as well as aging reversal to a certain degree. The subject must physically be in contact with the hair in order for the magic to work when the special song presents; her hair also emits a glowing light when the magic activates. The song goes by: :Flower gleam and glow :Let your power shine :Make the clock reverse :Bring back what once was mine :Heal what has been hurt :Change the fate's design :Save what has been lost :Bring back what once was mine :What once was mine Rapunzel's hair also possesses a limited prehensile ability: grappling and grabbing objects that easily outweigh herself without straining or hurting in any way. She revealed that her hair would turn brown should it be cut, and such act also warrants imminent loss of magic. Rapunzel also has superhuman strength to a lesser degree; swinging from a cliff to another and suspending herself in the air using leverage of her hair as well as hoisting Gothel up into the tower day after day, to her amazement. Additionally, her hair appeared almost weightless whenever she carried it; needless to say, a normal person cannot, by any means, perform any of the stunts by Rapunzel with this much hair. Considering the extraordinary amount of hair, she had shown a great deal of agility and dexterity with her hair, such as climbing high altitudes, jumping off such without much effort, and running just as fast as Flynn, who was a professional thief and does not possess the same amount of hair as Rapunzel did. Like Ariel, Rapunzel has shown high adaptability; she took roughly two seconds to adjust to the environment of the world. Additionally, she was once trapped in an underwater cave and seemingly was able to swim, which is humanly impossible because she was never taught to. It is observed that her power could still be channeled through her tears even after her hair has seemingly completely lost the magic. The only assumption is that the actual source of energy is in her heart, and such will only activate and supply when love is involved. Role in the film When Rapunzel's mother, the Queen, falls ill, her subjects concoct a special tea from a magical plant grown from a drop of sunlight fallen to earth. The tea restores the queen's health and gives the unborn Rapunzel magical healing. powers, which reside in her hair. However, an evil and jealous woman named Mother Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel soon after birth, as she has had wanted the plant's magical abilities for herself ever since her first discovery of the plant centuries ago. Mother Gothel locks Rapunzel in a tower away from the outside world, and raises the girl as her own. Rapunzel matures into a teenager, spending all of her time confined to the tower with no one for company but Gothel and her chameleon friend, Pascal. Gothel continually tells Rapunzel that the world is a dark and cruel place full of detestable creatures and people. Rapunzel is also never informed of her status as a princess nor has she ever been told of her real history. Every year since her youth, Rapunzel witnesses a festival of lights in the nearby kingdom of Corona, unaware that it is both in remembrance of her kidnapping when she was a baby and a beacon for her to find a way home. She dreams of one day traveling to the kingdom herself to see the festival. On Rapunzel's eighteenth birthday, she gathers the courage to ask Mother Gothel to go see the festival. Mother Gothel bluntly refuses, and orders Rapunzel not to ask to leave the tower again. A while later when Gothel is out, Flynn Rider, a handsome thief, decides to use Rapunzel's tower as a hiding place after stealing the crown jewels and escaping from the royal guards of Corona. Rapunzel knocks Flynn unconscious and hides him in her closet. Noticing the crown inside a satchel belonging to Flynn, she curiously examines the object and is momentarily captivated by wearing it. Rapunzel hopes to show Mother Gothel the captured Flynn in an attempt to prove that she can indeed handle herself in the outside world. Upon her return however, Gothel is even more aggravated at Rapunzel's second request to leave the tower and shouts at Rapunzel that she will never leave the tower. Left with no other viable option, she keeps Flynn hidden and wearily asks for more paints as her birthday present, which would take Mother Gothel three days to retrieve. Gothel leaves on the journey, promising to return in three days. Immediately, Rapunzel begins forcibly recruiting Flynn into helping her complete her dream in exchange for the satchel that she has hidden deep in the tower. Rapunzel, Flynn, and Pascal leave the tower, whereupon Flynn tries several tricks to get rid of Rapunzel and get his satchel back. One of these tricks includes him taking Rapunzel to the local tavern, the Snuggly Duckling, where they encounter just the kind of ruffians and thugs that Gothel warned Rapunzel about. Rapunzel manages to gain their friendship by explaining to them her dream of seeing the floating lanterns and leads them in singing "I've Got a Dream", but not before they send for the palace guards, hoping to gain a reward for the capture of Flynn. This entire scene is witnessed by Gothel, who became worried about Rapunzel when she saw a stray palace horse and upon returning to the tower, saw Rapunzel wasn't there. Flynn and Rapunzel escape the tavern through a secret passageway which leads them to a wooden dam. Unfortunately, the passage is discovered by the guards and the Stabbington Brothers, a pair of criminals on a quest for vengeance against Flynn for abandoning them on a previous job. Flynn and Rapunzel combat the guards and thugs and escape into a small cave when the dam collapses. Finding themselves sealed in the cave with water rising around them, they can find no escape. Flynn cuts his hand in a frantic attempt to make an exit. Rapunzel believes she has doomed them and tearfully apologizes to Flynn. To cheer her, Flynn reveals his true name to be Eugene Fitzherbert, feeling someone may as well know. She decides to share the secret of her magical glowing hair causing her to remember its ability. Rapunzel illuminates the cavern with her power, much to Flynn's astonishment, allowing them to claw their way out through a small hole in the bottom of the pool. That night at the campfire, Rapunzel heals Flynn's hand with her hair. The dumbstruck thief just manages to keep his cool and Rapunzel explains everything to him, including her lifelong imprisonment by Gothel to protect her magic hair and that if the hair is ever cut, it turns brown and loses its power. Flynn is empathetic toward her ambiguous feelings over returning to the tower. When questioned about his real name, Flynn tells his childhood story of growing up as an orphan and reading a book called "The Tales of Flynnagan Rider", the escapades of a daring adventurer with every benefit to an exciting life full of dangers, riches, and ladies. Flynn chose to adopt the name and lifestyle, even though the real Flynn Rider wasn't a thief, feeling anything would be a better option than a helpless orphan. Rapunzel tells him that she likes Eugene Fitzherbert much better than his adopted name and the pair form a close bond. When Eugene leaves to collect more firewood, Gothel appears and tells Rapunzel they are going home. Rapunzel refuses, believing that Eugene is beginning to like her. Gothel presents Rapunzel with Eugene's satchel and challenges her to return it to him, warning her that he will simply abandon her as he only wants the satchel back. Gothel then disappears, leaving the two of them to fall asleep by the campfire. Gothel is also accompanied by the Stabbington Brothers, with whom she has struck a deal to get Rapunzel back. In the morning, Rapunzel awakens to find that they have been discovered by Maximus, a high-ranking palace horse on a personal mission to bring Eugene to justice. Rapunzel calms and befriends the frenzied horse, requesting that he refrain from arresting Eugene for the next 24 hours so that they can see the lanterns. Maximus and Eugene make a reluctant truce and journey into the kingdom with Rapunzel and Pascal. Eugene and Rapunzel enjoy each other's company greatly as they spend the day touring the kingdom and indulging in everything it has to offer. At this point they begin to realize their feelings for one another have become strong. At dusk, Eugene and Rapunzel row out onto the lake to watch the lanterns rise into the sky. As they wait for the lanterns to appear, Eugene notices that Rapunzel is not too happy, in fact she's terrified. She confesses that after all of the excitement that has built up inside her about seeing the floating lights, she is worried that they may not be everything that she dreamed. Eugene assures her they will be, and if they are, she gets to go find herself a new dream afterwards. That night, Rapunzel is overjoyed to finally be living her dream as she enchantingly watches the lanterns float from the streets of the kingdom to the boats on the lake. When Eugene presents her with a pair of their own lanterns, Rapunzel shows him his satchel, saying she was scared to give it to him before. Eugene refuses the satchel and says he knows how she feels. As Eugene watches Rapunzel viewing the lanterns he falls in love with her and takes her by the hand, much to her delight, and they finish singing "I See the Light" together. They are just about to kiss, when Eugene sees the Stabbington Borthers on shore, unbeknownst to Rapunzel, and brings the boat ashore to give them the tiara, feeling they are not safe with them around. Rapunzel becomes worried as Eugene leaves, remembering Gothel's warning. The brothers knock Eugene unconscious and trick Rapunzel into thinking he has abandoned her by setting him asail across the lake towards the kingdom. They scheme to kidnap her and use her powers to earn them money but Gothel appears and rescues her. Believing that she has been deserted by the man she thought loved her, a heartbroken Rapunzel goes with Gothel back to the tower. The guards arrest Eugene and sentence him to be hanged for his crimes. Back at the tower as she mourns over losing Eugene, Rapunzel discovers that the emblem of the kingdom of Corona has been unwittingly sketched into all of the wall paintings she has painted over the years in her room. A sudden wave of memories and emotions from lying in her royal crib to trying on her tiara flood her mind and she realizes she is the lost princess of Corona. Rapunzel confronts Gothel, expressing her repulsion at everything Gothel has done and that she has been hiding with the person she should have been hiding from all along. Gothel says that she only wanted to protect Rapunzel and informs her that Eugene is scheduled to be hung. Rapunzel becomes even angrier and says that she will never let Gothel use her hair again, but is detained by Gothel before she can leave. As he is being lead off to the gallows, Eugene is rescued by the Snuggly Duckly patrons, called on by Maximus. Eugene rides Maximus back to the tower to save Rapunzel. Upon arriving, he finds Rapunzel shackled and gagged and is fatally stabbed in the chest by Gothel before he can do anything. Rapunzel declares that she will never stop fighting Gothel as long as she lives, but promises to go with her peacefully if only she is allowed to heal Eugene. Gothel agrees and chains Eugene down to prevent him from following them. Eugene begs Rapunzel to let him be, but Rapunzel won't let Eugene die. Eugene, however, would rather die than let Rapunzel be trapped again and slices her hair off before she can heal him. Rapunzel reacts in shock and watches in despair as the endless lengths of golden hair turn brown and powerless. Gothel is horrified as her age begins to catch up with her rapidly and, flying into a fit of hysteria, she is tripped by Pascal and falls out the tower window. Her body crumbles to dust before it hits the ground. Rapunzel desperately cradles the dying Eugene, singing the healing incantation, but to no effect. Eugene weakly tells Rapunzel she was his new dream. Rapunzel says that he was hers as well and Eugene dies in her arms. Rapunzel softly finishes singing the incantation and begins to cry over his body. Her tears, however, contain the last bit of sunshine power in Rapunzel's body and Eugene is revived. They jubilantly embrace and then share their first kiss. Rapunzel then returns to Corona to reunite with her rightful parents: the King and the Queen. The ending narration reveals that Eugene proposes to Rapunzel after several years. They are currently married and living happily ever after. Disney Parks and Resorts Rapunzel is a face character in various Disney parks around the world. Retaining long blonde hair as opposed to the short brown cut at the end of the film, the official explanation for her Park appearance is remnants of the magic within her after healing Flynn gradually allowed her to grow some hair back. And whereas she is barefoot in the film, she is seen wearing lavender flat shoes in the Disney parks. Disneyland Resort She, along with Flynn Rider, made appearances ahead of the movie's release at all Disney theme parks worldwide. At Disneyland, both Rapunzel and Flynn are in the Fantasyland section in their own little chalet, with a facade incorporating Rapunzel's Tower. Rapunzel also appears in "Mickey's Soundsational Parade" with Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora and Belle on The Princess Float. Rapunzel has been added to World of Color during the So Close sequence. Walt Disney World Resort At Disney World, she can be found in the former "Belle's Storytime" stage in the Magic Kingdom, and at Epcot in the Germany section. With the Fantasyland Expansion currently in progress, Rapunzel will eventually become part of the Princess Fantasy Fair meet and greet location, planned to replace Snow White's Scary Adventures. Flynn left in July as a permanent character, however he will make appearances for the park's Halloween, Christmas and possibly Valentines Day events. Disneyland Resort Paris Rapunzel and Flynn make appearances at the Disneyland park. Hong Kong Disneyland At Hong Kong Disneyland, she can be found in the Fantasyland's Storybook Shoppe. Trivia * Rapunzel was originally to have been voiced by Broadway actress and singer Kristen Chenoweth, but was later replaced by singer-songwriter Mandy Moore. * Rapunzel is the second Disney Princess to have her hair cut after Mulan. However, she is the first to have her hair cut by someone other than herself. * Rapunzel is similar to Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the sense that neither can leave their home under the strict orders of their "parents". * Rapunzel is the third Disney Princess to have been barefoot, the others are Aurora and Pocahontas. * Rapunzel is the only princess to have green eyes. * Rapunzel is the first Disney Princess to be computer animated. Special software was used specifically to animate Rapunzel's hair because no one ever animated that much hair before. * Although Rapunzel is based on the character from the classic fairy tale, she is altered quite a bit in order to develop a more adventurous and outgoing personality, and further complicate the romantic relationship between her and her love-interest. * Despite having her hair cut and turn brown in the movie, making her the first Disney Princess to have her hair change color, Rapunzel's hair is kept long and blonde in many of the promotional images. * Rapunzel is the second Disney Princess to have her love-interest die and brought back to life (the first being Belle), the second to be unaware of her identity as a princess (Princess Aurora was the first), as well as the second to have a resemblance to her mother (The Queen akin to Princess Aurora's mother, Queen Leah). * After her hair gets cut, Rapunzel became the Disney Princess with the second shortest hair, behind Snow White. * The color purple is often said to be the color of royalty. During the film, Rapunzel only wears purple, which can be a reference to Rapunzel's true royal identity. * Rapunzel is the first Disney Princess to have magic powers, the source of them initially being hair. However, when her hair is cut, her healing powers remained in her tears, the first whose mother is shown pregnant, and also the first to have freckles. * Rapunzel is the first Disney Princess to have a female villain in her story since Ariel in 1989. * Rapunzel was "officially welcomed into the Disney Princess Royal Court" during a promotional event at Kensington Palace in London on October 2, 2011. 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